Seahawks soar past Chiefs for second place in region

The Myrtle Beach boys basketball team secured second place in Region 7-3A and gained a little momentum going into the playoffs Thursday night with a 61-58 overtime victory over visiting region champion North Myrtle Beach.

With the Chiefs (16-8 overall 7-3 region) already locking up the regular-season title, the Seahawks (13-11, 6-4) made it a series sweep over their rivals. The game was close throughout and featured eight ties and eight lead changes.

Myrtle Beach’s Nolin Butler exploded for a game-high 25 points, including a 3 for 5 night from 3-point range and a perfect 4 for 4 from the free throw line to ice the game in the extra period. He also had five steals and four rebounds for the Seahawks, and Mason Lewis added 11 points.

North Myrtle Beach featured a balanced scoring attack with four players in double figures. Jaquan Grissett led the Chiefs with 14 points and Jeff Vereen came off the bench to score 13 on 4 of 6 shooting from the field. Matt Lindsey tallied 12 points and Jahlen Livingston with 10 points and a game-high eight rebounds.

Both teams will host first-round playoff games on Tuesday against opponents to be determined after Friday’s games.